1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a continuous casting installation and to a process for the production of thin slabs.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of flat immersion nozzles in continuous casting installations is known, for example, from the prior art reference DE 37 09 188 A1. Further, hydraulically driven lifting platforms which allow the stroke, frequency and mode of the oscillation to be changed and optimally selected by deviating from the sinusoidal oscillation during the casting process itself are conventional. Continuous casting and rolling in which the thickness of the cast metal is reduced during solidification so that the internal quality of the strand is improved is known, for example, from reference DE 38 18 077 A1, among other references.
Evaluation of the prior art reveals that the aim of producing thin strands using continuous casting installation requires the solution of complex problems. The totality of influenceable variables with respect to the entire continuous casting installation is so great that the person of average skill in the art is far from knowledgeable enough, and can also not be expected, to find, from the multitude of more or less usable possible solutions, one solution which will lead to satisfactory results in the most economical manner.